FactSheet: Strata Title Information Victoria

Legislation for Strata Title Information Victoria

Subdivision Act 1988

The purposes of this Act are to —

(a) set out the procedure for the subdivision and consolidation of land, including buildings and airspace, and for the creation, variation or removal of easements or restrictions; and

(b) regulate the management of and dealings with common property and the constitution and operation of bodies corporate.

Owners Corporations Act 2006

The purposes of this Act are —

(a) to provide for the management, powers and functions of owners corporations; and

(b) to provide for appropriate mechanisms for the resolution of disputes relating to owners corporations; and

(c) to amend the Subdivision Act 1988 in relation to the creation of owners corporations.

Owners Corporations Regulations 2007

The objective of these Regulations is to prescribe —

(a) the classes of prescribed owners corporations for the purposes of the Owners Corporations Act 2006;

(b) certain insurance requirements relating to owners corporations;

(c) when an existing owners corporation must establish an owners corporation register and information to be included on owners corporation certificates;

(d) fees, costs and charges payable under the Owners Corporations Act 2006;

(e) model rules for owners corporations;

(ea) offences in respect of which an infringement notice may be issued;

(f) other matters authorised or required to be prescribed for the purposes of the Owners Corporations Act 2006.

Consumer Affairs Legislation Further Amendment Bill 2014

The objective of these Regulations is to amend the Owners Corporations Regulations 2007 to prescribe the relevant maximum fees that may be charged by owners corporations for providing certain information under the Owners Corporations Act 2006.

Subdivision (Procedures) Regulations 2000

The objective of these Regulations are to —

(a) prescribe time limits for things done under the Subdivision Act 1988 ; and

(b) prescribe forms authorised by that Act; and

(c) provide for procedures relating to the certification of plans; and

(d) require Councils to maintain a register of applications made under that Act; and

(e) provide for other matters authorised by that Act.

Subdivision (Procedures) (Owners Corporations Amendment) Regulations 2007

The objective of these Regulations is to amend the Subdivision (Procedures) Regulations 2000 —

(a) to prescribe forms and procedures for the recording or giving of information in relation to owners corporations; and

(b) to make provision for plans of strata and cluster subdivision; and

(c) to make other amendments consequential on the amendment of the Subdivision Act 1988 in relation to owners corporations.

Consumer Affairs Victoria

Owners corporations

Learn how to run an owners corporation, and rights and responsibilities of members and managers.

Model rules for owners corporations

If your owners corporation does not make a rule covering any item in the model rules, then the model rule apply.

Useful Links for Strata Title Information Victoria

Consumer Affairs Victoria

Strata regulators for Victoria.

Housing and accommodation

Your rights and responsibilities, how to resolve disputes and where to find help – lots of strata title information Victoria.

Insurance – owners corporations

Your rights and responsibilities with regards to strata insurance.

Strata Community Australia (VIC)

The leading professional body for the strata and community title sector in Victoria.

Interpreting Strata Plans

Department of Sustainability and Environment

This document provides guidance on the interpretation of Strata Act plans.

VIC: Contact your local Member of Parliament

If you believe there is a strata issue that needs to be brought to the government’s attention.

Strata Forms for Strata Title Information Victoria

Consumer Affairs Victoria

Provides access to a number of strata title forms HERE under Owners Corporations. For example:

• Contract of appointment
• Request to inspect register and/or records
• Owners corporation maintenance survey template
• Owners corporation petition

Problems With Apartments? Complaint handling in your owners corporation – Strata Title Information Victoria

Consumer Affairs Victoria explains that there are three steps to handling grievances:

1. internal dispute resolution
2. conciliation through Consumer Affairs Victoria
3. applications to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)

For details about the process, please read Consumer Affairs Victoria’s page Complaint handling in your owners corporation carefully.

Note that complaints MUST be made in writing to the owners corporation on the provided complaint form. A link to this form can found about half way down the Consumer Affairs Victoria’s page.

What to do if you are unhappy with your strata manager

Owners Corporation Managers are discussed in detail on Consumer Affairs Victoria’s page Working with your owners corporation manager. Information is provided about the Managers Role, Appointing a Manager & Removing a Manager.

Is it illegal to smoke cigarettes in an Owners Corporation?

Stephen Raff, Ace Body Corporate Management
Apr 2016: With smoking rates declining in Victoria and smokers increasingly being disallowed from lighting up in certain areas, how does this impact people smoking in Owners Corporations and what does the current Owners Corporation Act 2006 and Regulations 2007 say?

Consumer Property Law Review

Consumer Affairs Victoria
**Now Closed for Comments**

The Options Paper for the reform of the Owners Corporation Act 2006 was put out a last week. The paper is now open for public consultation.

This options paper examines the issues that have been identified for reform, and presents options for consideration in areas such as regulation of owners corporation managers and decision-making within owners corporations.

ByLaws & Strata Title Information Victoria

Articles

• VIC: VCAT Declares Owners Corporation Rule Prohibiting Pets Being Kept in Private Lots Invalid & Unenforceable Sep 2016 - A recent VCAT case involved an OC that had two registered Owners Corporation Rules prohibiting pets on common property and
• VIC: Why Owners Corporation Rules Should Always Be Drafted By Legal Practitioners Sep 2016 - The recent Supreme Court of Victoria case of Owners Corporation PS 501391P v Balcombe [2016] VSC 384 (22 July 2016)

Evolution of Strata in Victoria

Stephen Raff, Ace Body Corporate Management
May 2016: Stephen Raff, provides a very brief overview on the evolution of strata subdivisions in Victoria and how modern close proximity living was formed in the state.

“My Apartment is My Castle (and I’ll lease it on AirBnB if I want to)”

Nicole Wilde, Tisher Liner FC Law
Jul 2015: The latest regarding short term rental apartments in the Docklands building, Watergate: Owners Corporation Plan No. PS 501391P v Balcombe & Salter VCAT.

FAQs

• VIC: Q&A Reasonable Implementation of By-Laws Feb 2018 - Question: I'd like to find out about the implementation of by-laws. There are some common sense by-laws I feel we

Resources

Model rules for owners corporations

If your owners corporation does not make a rule covering any item in the model rules, then the model rules apply.

Owners corporations

Consumer Affairs Victoria
Learn how to run an owners corporation, and rights and responsibilities of members and managers.

Strata Smoking & Strata Title Information Victoria

• VIC: Move Your Butt Jul 2017 - The absence of a specific Model Rule regarding smoking on common property or within lots creates uncertainty for both occupants

Is it illegal to smoke cigarettes in an Owners Corporation?

Stephen Raff, Ace Body Corporate Management
Apr 2016: Strata smoking – With smoking rates declining in Victoria and smokers increasingly being disallowed from lighting up in certain areas, how does this impact people smoking in Owners Corporations and what does the current Owners Corporation Act 2006 and Regulations 2007 say?

• VIC: Q&A What is the visitor parking spaces law – How many spaces are required? Oct 2017 - Question: What is the visitor parking spaces law in Victoria? How many visitor car spaces are required for a 20

Resources

Model rules for owners corporations

Model rules concerning strata parking in a scheme. If your owners corporation does not make a rule covering any item in the model rules, then the model rules apply.

Noise, Neighbours & Strata Title Information Victoria

Resources

Model rules for owners corporations

Model rules concerning duty to prevent nuisance. If your owners corporation does not make a rule covering any item in the model rules, then the model rules apply.

Strata Insurance & Strata Title Information Victoria

Articles

• VIC: Update on Cladding Laws Apr 2018 - After an Australian Federal Senate Inquiry and multiple investigations, 2018 is finally seeing some action regarding cladding laws. Regulatory changes
• Owners Corporation Insurance Requirements Victoria Nov 2017 - Insurance is important to protect owners corporations' property and, to a limited extent, lot owners' personal assets. What do you

Owners Corporation Reinstatement and Replacement Insurance – What Should it Cover?

Nicole Wilde, Tisher Liner FC Law
Oct 2015: The Owners Corporation Act 2006 (VIC) provides that an Owners Corporation must take out reinstatement and replacement insurance for all buildings on the common property.

FAQs

• VIC: Q&A Rising Insurance Premiums due to multiple break ins May 2018 - Question: Our complex has had multiple breakins at the same entry point. As we are facing rising insurance premiums, can
• VIC: Q&A Individual Strata Insurance for a Small Scheme Jan 2018 - Question: I have just purchased a unit and have been told by the real estate agent the body corporation was
• VIC: Q&A Running a Business in Residential Strata & the Impact on Insurance Oct 2016 - Home Business in Strata: We have an owner/occupier who runs her business from her unit. Does this affect the owners

Resources

Strata Insurance – owners corporations

Consumer Affairs Victoria
– your rights and responsibilities with regards to strata insurance.

Articles

• Pets in Owners Corporations in Victoria Jun 2017 - In Victoria it is unlikely that a blanket prohibition on pets is within the Owners Corporation's power. Whether or not
• VIC: VCAT Declares Owners Corporation Rule Prohibiting Pets Being Kept in Private Lots Invalid & Unenforceable Sep 2016 - A recent VCAT case involved an OC that had two registered Owners Corporation Rules prohibiting pets on common property and

FAQs

• VIC: Q&A Companion Pets in Apartments Mar 2017 - Question: Am I able to have companion pets in apartments in Victoria? Is it possible for companion animals to be

Strata Pets: Can a by-law specify the maximum allowed weight for a Pet?

Question

I’m in Vic and owner of apartment and rules say I can have a dog under 10kg, what if its a slightly larger dog. Is that ok?

Answer

From Simone Balsara, TEYS Lawyers:

A weight restriction for animals in a rule is open to challenge as being unreasonable and invalid. An Adjudicator in a Qld case, 212 on Margaret [2011], found a condition that an animal must not weigh more than 10kgs is an unreasonable restriction.

If an animal that has been approved puts on weight and becomes 10.5kgs, according to the rule it is in breach of the rule and can be removed. To monitor and enforce such a provision is not practical and therefore open to challenge.

Resources

Model rules for owners corporations

model rules concerning keeping of animals. If your owners corporation does not make a rule covering any item in the model rules, then the model rules apply.

Strata Levies & Strata Title Information Victoria

• VIC: Q&A We do all the work! Can our strata levies be reduced? May 2017 - Question: A small group of owners run the committee and carry out yard maintenance etc for the scheme. Is it
• VIC: What is the Correct Process For A Strata Levy Increase? Apr 2017 - Question: My elderly mother has received a substantial strata levy increase of $200 per annum. Should notification of the increase
• What Victorian Owners Corporations Can and Cannot Charge Lot Owners Dec 2016 - The legislation governing Owners Corporations in Victoria provides clear procedures about lot owners rights when it comes to Owners Corporation's
• VIC: Lot Owner’s unsuccessful challenge to overturn Owners Corporation’s decision to install new fire safety system… Oct 2016 - A lot owner refused to pay their portion of a special levy. They did not believe that there would be
• VIC: Apartment Owners – Have You Inadvertently Become a ‘Private Lender’ to Other Owners in Your Building? Jul 2016 - The Owners Corporation has powers to raise funds from its members and issue a Fee Notice requesting payment within 28

Owners Corporation Amendment Bill 2013 (Vic) to clarify annual fees

Peter Berney, Solutions in Engineering
Jul 2014: The Owners Corporation Amendment Bill 2013 (Vic) clarifies the way in which annual fees are set by Owners Corporations and provides guidance on the way that Owners Corporations levy certain fees in relation to works that do not affect all lots.

Articles

• Banning Combustible Cladding In Victoria Mar 2018 - The new ministerial guidelines spell out what can’t be used on Victorian building sites, spelling an end to the use
• VIC: Victorian Cladding Taskforce Taking Action On Cladding Dec 2017 - The Government today released the Victorian Cladding Taskforce Chairs’ interim report, which outlines the extent of combustible cladding on buildings
• VIC: Stern Warnings Issued for Victorian Apartment Owners Following St Kilda Gas Explosion Forces Evacuation Oct 2017 - A stern warning has been issued for 1 in 4 Victorians living in apartments, following a gas explosion in St
• Taskforce To Address Cladding In Victoria Jul 2017 - The new taskforce will bolster the state’s ability to detect and address non-compliant cladding in Victoria, and ensure residents, owners’
• VIC: The ‘Twenty-Seven Centimetre Dispute’ between St Kilda Road Owners Corporation and Lot Owner May 2017 - An Owners Corporation for a Melbourne development sought an order from VCAT that a lot owner comply with one of

What’s yours and what‘s common property?

Stephen Raff, Ace Body Corporate Management
Jan 2016: Strata managers regularly receive questions from strata lot owners about ‘what is mine’ or ‘where are the common property boundaries’?

FAQs

• VIC: Q&A Water Ingress – The Body Corporate say it’s my problem to fix Apr 2018 - Question: For some time we have had water ingress through the walls and windows of our investment unit. The body
• VIC: Q&A The Owners Corporation, Overflowing Drains and Residents Working Bees Feb 2018 - Question: What are or aren't residents permitted to do in common areas? How can we arrange residents working bees to
• VIC: Q&A Lighting in common areas – expenses assigned to individual units Jan 2018 - Question: Quite a while back, our lighting in common areas was connected via a few individual lots. The residents of
• VIC: Q&A Can I hang Christmas decorations on the balcony? Dec 2017 - Question: Are there laws about external Christmas decorations and strata units in Victoria? Can I hang Christmas decorations on the
• VIC: Q&A Repairing Roof Tiles – Who is responsible for the cost? Sep 2017 - Question: I am a resident of a single storey strata unit. Who is responsible for repairing the roof tiles on
• VIC: Q&A Owners Corporation Approval to Renovate My Apartment? Aug 2017 - Question: I'm looking at doing some major renovation work to my apartment. What Owners Corporation approval is required? Do I
• Q&A Do I need permission to renovate on a 2 lot subdivision Victoria? Jul 2017 - Question: We are an owner in a two lot subdivision and we have renovated the front of our unit without
• VIC: Q&A Maintenance of Common Property – Decorative Paintwork Apr 2017 - Question: Our scheme has a deteriorated decorative paint finish. Opinion is divided as to whether this decorative finish is required
• VIC: Q&A Water Leak From Balcony Mar 2017 - Water leak from balcony: I have a drain on the balcony the comes from the roof. There is a leak

Q&A Emergency exits from common property areas

Layton Gale, Australian Essential Services Group
Nov 2015: It is a requirement of all buildings that there must be a safe and unobstructed path of travel and discharge from exit to the road or open space.

Resources

Model rules for owners corporations

Model rules concerning use of common property & body corporate’s duties in relation to common property. If your owners corporation does not make a rule covering any item in the model rules, then the model rules apply.

Property maintenance – owners corporations

Consumer Affairs Victoria
Including information concerning maintaining common property, renovating individual lots and maintenance plan.

Articles

• VIC: Are your prescribed OC’s statutory financial statements audited as they should be? (What to look out for.) Oct 2016 - If the OC is prescribed, the audit needs to follow Australian Auditing Standards. An inappropriate audit (for whatever reason) leaves
• VIC: Why Owners Corporation Rules Should Always Be Drafted By Legal Practitioners Sep 2016 - The recent Supreme Court of Victoria case of Owners Corporation PS 501391P v Balcombe [2016] VSC 384 (22 July 2016)

The Law can be like a rubber band – stretch it too far and it will break

Nicole Wilde, Tisher Liner FC Law
May 2016: If the Owners Corporation wanted to raise money for litigation expenses, it should have done so by raising a special fee under section 24 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, which in that case, required a special resolution.

FAQs

• VIC: Q&A Forced sale and the 75% rule Apr 2018 - Question: We were wondering if we could have information about a rule that we have just heard of which allows
• VIC: Q&A Bullying and Harassment by One Lot Owner in Our Small Scheme Jan 2018 - Question: One Lot Owner in our small scheme is making life unbearable with bullying and harassment of the other residents.
• VIC: Q&A Strata Maintenance Contracts Arranged by the Developer May 2017 - Question: Strata maintenance contracts in our new strata scheme, particularly the one for the cleaning of the building, was written
• VIC: Q&A Strata Management Fees – What is Fair? Mar 2017 - Question: I just found out from my body corporate manager that every time an email is CCd or 'carbon copied'
• VIC: Q&A Becoming A Self Managed Strata Scheme – Can I Stop This? Nov 2016 - Question: We currently use a body corporate management company; however, the developer of the building still owns the majority of

Resources

Owners corporation meetings and committees

Consumer Affairs Victoria
A selection of resources to assist people with meetings and committees.

Multiple owners corporations

Consumer Affairs Victoria
Some developments have several owners corporations (formerly body corporate) to help lot owners share rights, responsibilities and costs. This is common in subdivisions that have a mix of homes, shops and industry within the one complex.

Building Defects & Strata Title Information Victoria

• VIC: Q&A Who is responsible for balcony repairs? Dec 2017 - Question: 1 in 5 apartments in our building have balcony problems. The developer has carried out the repair of balcony
• Defects – New Dispute Resolution Requirement in Victoria Jul 2017 - The most significant addition is that building owners (read, strata schemes) are required to partake in conciliation before they can
• VIC: Q&A Balcony Concrete Cancer – Who Fixes What? Dec 2016 - Plans of subdivision are quite strict. The inward facing part of the balcony is considered the Lot Owners responsibility. However
• VIC: Tougher Penalties For Illegal Building Works Dec 2016 - New laws to strengthen Victoria’s building system – including significant fines and jail time for people found guilty of illegal

Renting / Buying / Selling Strata Property & Strata Title Information Victoria

Articles

• VIC: Q&A Compliance Certificates for New Apartments (1/16/2018) - Question: We are in a 5 storey apartment in North West Melbourne and we are having a lot of trouble

Should Landlords Add a Special Condition into Residential Tenancy Agreements to Prohibit Tenants from ‘Licensing’ Apartments on Airbnb?

Nicole Wilde, Tisher Liner FC Law
Apr 2016: As Airbnb’s popularity increases, so do the number of tenants in Melbourne listing their rented apartments on Airbnb for their own commercial gain. Landlords of those apartments are often unaware of their tenants’ Airbnb arrangements and upon becoming aware, may wish to take steps to terminate their tenants’ residential tenancy agreement. However, a recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision suggests that Landlords may not be able to use their termination rights under section 253 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997.

FAQs

Q&A – Maximum Number of Tenants Allowed in Apartments

LookUpStrata & Daniel Hunt, Ace Body Corporate Management
Dec 2015: A Vic lot owner emailed a question to us over the past week: Is there a maximum number of tenants allowed in apartments in Victoria?

Resources

Buying an apartment or unit checklist

A useful checklist for buying strata property provided by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Buying into an owners corporation

Consumer Affairs Victoria
A selection of resources to assist people buying into a strata scheme.

Strata Managers  & Strata Title Information Victoria

Strata Plans & Strata Title Information Victoria

Interpreting Strata Plans

Department of Sustainability and Environment

This document provides guidance on the interpretation of Strata Act plans.

Sustainability & Strata Title Information Victoria

Resources

City of Melbourne

Sustainable apartments

Living in or owning an apartment can create challenges in making your building more sustainable. The City of Melbourne can help apartment owners, residents and building managers reduce water and energy usage and better manage waste and recycling.

Solar Case Study: Lifestyle Working

Lifestyle Working’s innovative strata-titled solar lots in Melbourne’s Docklands are giving business a new way to invest in solar.

High-rise apartment recycling

If you live in a high-rise apartment you can help reduce waste, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption simply by reducing how much you throw away and by making sure that you recycle everything you can.

Growing Green Guide

State of Victoria: Department of Environment and Primary Industries
A guide to green roofs, walls and facades in Melbourne and Victoria, Australia.